Grawemeyer Award

The Grawemeyer award at the University of Louisville recognizes outstanding ideas in all areas of the discipline of Psychology. Nominations are judged on the basis of originality, creativity, scientific merit, and breadth of impact on the field of Psychology.

The Grawemeyer Award in Psychology: Honoring a Great Idea in the Field of Psychology

The Grawemeyer Award in Psychology recognizes outstanding ideas in all areas of the discipline of Psychology. This award is given annually and is accompanied by a prize of not less than $100,000.

H. Charles Grawemeyer (1912-1993), industrialist, entrepreneur, astute investor and philanthropist, created the lucrative Grawemeyer Awards at the University of Louisville in 1984. Grawemeyer cherished the liberal arts and chose to honor powerful ideas in five fields: Music Composition, Education, Religion, World Order and Psychology.

Grawemeyer distinguished the awards by honoring ideas rather than life-long or publicized personal achievement. He also insisted that the selection process for each of the five awards include one final step involving a lay committee without formal training or knowledge in each field. As Grawemeyer saw it, great ideas should be understandable to someone with general knowledge and not be the private treasure of academics.